Jack Batdorff’s prized face jugs collection is a product of a passion
for art that dates back to his childhood days growing up near the
picturesque Lake Michigan shoreline in Manistee – days that sparked his
ongoing love affair with art.

Symbols of Batdorff’s love of art
will be on display this winter in the Ferris State University Rankin
Student Center Art Gallery beginning Dec. 6 and running through Jan. 14.
As part of the introduction of the face jugs exhibit from Batdorff’s
collection, the Gallery will host a reception on Dec. 16 beginning at
5:30 p.m. with live music courtesy of Susan Morris and Dave Hay along
with refreshments.

The exhibit is entitled "200 Years of Ceramic Folk Art," according to Batdorff.

For Batdorff, a heartfelt passion for this labor of love has both historical and contemporary
roots.

“My
passion is American ceramics that encompasses the stoneware of 200
years ago to the contemporary artist works and everything in between,”
said Batdorff, a third-generation owner and operator of The Pioneer
Group, a privately held publishing, printing and communications firm
headquartered in Big Rapids, which has holdings that include the Pioneer of Big Rapids and Manistee News-Advocate newspapers. “I can write, but I can’t pound a nail in straight … so I collect.”

By
his admission, the Batdorff home symbolizes his passion for collecting
art. “My first love is folk art. It is my passion. Our house is full of
it: stoneware, sewer tile, gargoyles and just about anything else I can
sneak in under my wife’s radar. On the flip side, my office is my
personal domain ... and in the immortal and unforgiving words of my
wife, Susan, ‘What goes there stays there … period,’” confessed
Batdorff, who received an honorary doctoral degree for business and
industry from Ferris in 2009.

In his collection, Batdorff counts
more than 500 jugs of “snakes, vermin, lizards, spiders and devils
staring me down.” He admits the face jugs have a certain eye-catching
quality. They also, however, boast a historic quality.

“The whole
grotesque face jug movement got started hundreds of years ago in
Africa, where native Africans used to make effigy jugs of their
forefathers to put over the graves of the deceased ones … to scare away
the devil and bad spirits and allow the soul to go to find peace in
heaven,” Batdorff wrote in a recent newspaper column.

In bringing
this exhibit to Ferris, Batdorff hopes the campus community will enjoy a
glimpse of some of the fruits of his passion for art. For its part, the
Rankin Art Gallery is excited to have an exhibit of pieces from a
collector with strong local ties.

“The Batdorff Collection is
nothing short of astounding to view in its entirety,” said Carrie Weis,
director of the Rankin Center Art Gallery. “Its sheer volume is
impressive, but even more so, its art historical importance is museum
worthy.

“We are lucky to have such an incredible collection and
patron within our community to share these pieces of our American
history,” Weis added.